Young Writers Society

As some of you know, I'm working on a novel that involves a society where time travel is a norm. I have a few opinion questions I would love to get feedback on to help me develop how various people within that society might feel regarding the existence and usage of time travel.

Note: My novel deals with the concept of Eternalism; essentially, "that time is just another dimension, that future events are 'already there', and that there is no objective flow of time." That is the philosophy of time I am using to make time travel possible. This is not Back To The Future; you cannot kill your parents then die because of it. (I know that's not actually how Back to the Future worked ) For those of you who watched Lost - it works a bit like that. Please keep this fact in mind when answering your questions because such things like, "I would kill Hitler" doesn't work. In my novel, if you went back in time and killed Hitler, this would have always been the case. But, something would have happened like, you tried to killed Hitler, but your gun failed. Or, Hitler died, but someone else took his place and so WWII and the Holocaust still occurred.

(I really hope all that made sense!) Anyway, to the questions I would love a reply to. Let's say you're a member of this society where you have free access to time travel.

1. Where would you travel to?

2. Would you time travel for vacation?

3. Would you ever consider moving, and living the rest of your life out, in a different time period?

4. Would you be concerned with the safety of time travel, or accept the government's word that it's safe?

5. Do you have any moral/philosophical/other reasons why you would disagree with time travel, and humanity's ability to do so?

6. Would you worry that time traveling could pose some health risk to you or others that the government has yet to discover because it hasn't existed for a long enough time period? (say, 20 years)

7. What reason might you decide to continue living in the "present" instead of time traveling? (different from Q5 in that this might be a more personal, physical thing - family, friends, you're used to that style of living.)

8. What regulations, if any, do you think the government should place on one's abbility time traveling? What kind of "policing" should be done?

I think those are all the questions I've come up with for now! If you have any questions regarding the time travel theories or what have you, well, go ahead and ask but I can't promise a logical, scientific answer. I mean it is science fiction, after all.

LOL. Way back when, you wouldn't even touch science fiction.

1. I would probably travel to some place pretty. It depends. I probably wouldn't.

2. Yes.

3. No.

4. Yes, but I would probably want to be involved in the research of that.

5. The main reason why I wouldn't go is because I'm lazy and I am afraid to go because traveling can be scary.

6. Yes, lol. But like I said... I would want to research that.

7. Frankly, I think time travel would be ridiculously expensive. New technologies generally are and, considering the amount of regulations this is under, it's probably prohibitive.

8. You have to be a certain age , you have to go through a history course, cultural understanding course, etc. Historians and sociologists would be hugely more important, I think.

1. Where would you travel to?
It depends; I am kin with many periods of history. My favorites, however, would be the Caribbean in the early 1700s (Golden Age of Piracy) or the later half of the 20th Century.

2. Would you time travel for vacation?
I'm not sure

3. Would you ever consider moving, and living the rest of your life out, in a different time period?
Yes. I belong in the 60s. 'Nuff said.

4. Would you be concerned with the safety of time travel, or accept the government's word that it's safe?
Meh, I probably wouldn't be scared. But I definitely wouldn't be one of the first to try time travel since a major technological advancement like that wouldn't be perfect right away.

5. Do you have any moral/philosophical/other reasons why you would disagree with time travel, and humanity's ability to do so?
No--I'd be too fascinated with the novelty of it.

6. Would you worry that time traveling could pose some health risk to you or others that the government has yet to discover because it hasn't existed for a long enough time period? (say, 20 years)
Probably, so I wouldn't travel mindlessly; I would talk to others and investigate it--if I deem to do be too dangerous, I wouldn't go.

7. What reason might you decide to continue living in the "present" instead of time traveling? (different from Q5 in that this might be a more personal, physical thing - family, friends, you're used to that style of living.)
If I traveled too much, I would loose focus of who I am. I suppose this is pretty self-explanatory, but after all, there's no place like home.

8. What regulations, if any, do you think the government should place on one's abbility time traveling? What kind of "policing" should be done?
I think that each house could have a time machine, and each family member could visit a maximum of three locations every three months, and they could stay as long as they wanted--just as long as they were back home by the end of the month, I think, then they could take a survey of who went where how many times and that way they could monitor their people.

--
Hope I could help! These questions were fun to answer. ^^

Thank you so much for your replies!

LOL. Way back when, you wouldn't even touch science fiction.

I think this is hilarious too, and I partially blame all the research that is required for historical fiction. I got tired of having to follow rules so I decided to made my own? Except now I have to follow (to a certain extent) scientific rules, which are just as complicated. But it's working out. XD

Thank you especially for your answer to Q8! That is not something I had considered, but yes, historians/sociologists would become a sort of "tour guide" through the past, wouldn't they? So if you went on guided tours of the past for vacation, of course it would be given by a historian! Love it.

Edit: Eli,loved your responses, especially this:

-just as long as they were back home by the end of the month

Considering that, they could be gone for years, and simply come back on the specified date. But it's great to think about it like that! And to extend it - why do you think the government would need to watch it in such away? Follow where everyone is going?

1. I'd travel to Rome in the late Republic period during the time of either Caesar or Sulla.

2. For vacation? If there's no limits... then the beaches of Pangea tens of millions of years ago. Totally deserted beaches!

3. Probably wouldn't move to another time period; you couldn't take a hot shower on demand until only 50 years ago!

4. Greatly depends. If it's a new technology, then heck no. But if it's something that's been around for a while and plenty of other people have used it, then sure.

5. Getting away from the fun aspect of time travel, I definitely would have a moral argument against it if were something truly possible. There's no telling what even quietly observing the past could do. Even going to a time before humans could have some unforeseen consequences. Then you have the issue of it getting into the wrong hands. Harry Turtledove wrote a good book called "The Guns of the South" about a group of racists from South Africa who traveled back in time to aid the Confederacy against the North. And then you have the problem of the well-intentioned but misguided people who'd think we could use time travel to plan the present. You'd end up with political leaders making speeches about how we could create a more perfect world by manipulating the past.

6. I use a cell-phone, so nope.

7. Family & friends, but the style of living more than anything else. I can't give up hot showers; even when I was working at a camp with no electricity, toilets, or internet for two months, I could still take a hot shower every morning.

8. If it were truly possible, and again getting away from the fun aspect, I would hope that government would simply ban it. Any policing regarding time travel would be about enforcing the ban. I suspect it actually wouldn't be hard to do since, according to Hawking, in order to time travel, you need a black-hole and a Large Hadron Collider. Kind of hard to keep that hidden.

This is a dystopian government, no? I'm thinking, If they don't monitor people, some who don't agree with the system might try to go back in time to when the government was created, and prevent it from ever taking place. And they wouldn't want that, would they? Keeping an eye on them would let the government know that people aren't abusing the system or trying to rebel, etc.

Re Nate: Thanks for the "not fun" responses! Those are the exact, honest ones I'm looking for. Also thanks for the book suggestions, and the evil ways people could manipulate it. Oh, the ideas!

Re Eli: Yeah, it's pretty Dystopian-ish, or what I'm wanting anyway. Basically, the government which exists when time travel is created is pretty nutty, and is like "Well then we can just control all time can't we?" It's sort of like the idea of the "new west" in America. (Though this might be more accurately depicted in spaghetti westerns than actual history.) People were living out there on the land - but there was no one policing them because society hadn't really built up there yet. The gov't wants to police it's citizens (the ones from its time) but how can it do that when they can be anywhere in time? Answer: it can't, not fully. Which is why banning it would probably be a good idea, like Nate said. But then I wouldn't have a novel!

Hmm, I suppose that you can say that, but it feels to me like that would try to do it anyway. If they've made a system, they'll be desperate for it to work and probably go to desperate measures to do so. Logging at the end of the month could work, but they'd probably expand to make sure that nobody was causing trouble. They could be attaching video chips in their spine so they'd know exactly what each person is doing, or the selection of a time period to go to could transmit an automatic message to the government.

1. Where would you travel to?

Mughal India, for novel research. xD Also probably any historical time period that has a lot of mystery surrounding it for me. The Maya, Aztects, Inca, Egypt (put that one nice and high on the list, as there are so many mysteries that are unsolved there!), Elizabethan England, Japan during the time of the Ninja, various periods in China's history, the time of Camalot, Native cultures before Europeans came, Sicily when the mob was created...

I am, however, a history geek. So this list is probably much longer than normal. xD

2. Would you time travel for vacation?

Probably not, unless I went to an advanced culture that wasn't in the dark ages. I like there to be a certain structure in the society.

3. Would you ever consider moving, and living the rest of your life out, in a different time period?

Not a prayer. xD I really like living with all the modern conveniences we have.

4. Would you be concerned with the safety of time travel, or accept the government's word that it's safe?

I would probably learn as much as humanly possible about the science behind it before trusting/using it.

5. Do you have any moral/philosophical/other reasons why you would disagree with time travel, and humanity's ability to do so?

If the events still happen, then all eras have been permeated by time travel and it's built into the fabric, allowing nothing to change even if somebody goes in and messes everything up. Although it'd be cool to have somebody go mess things up, then need somebody else to go in and make sure the events still happened. (Which would, by necessity, be a branch of the police)

And to counter Nate's argument a bit, quiet observation might account for the I-don't-know how many alien sitings that have happened over the centuries.

6. Would you worry that time traveling could pose some health risk to you or others that the government has yet to discover because it hasn't existed for a long enough time period? (say, 20 years)

Considering the human body is no longer used to the illnesses that were in existence even 200 years ago, let alone 2 melina, I'd be pretty worried about catching something in the past that I would have no resistance for at all. I'd be worried about others as well. Which means I'd wait a loooong time before using it. (In time for medicine to learn how to treat these illnesses)

7. What reason might you decide to continue living in the "present" instead of time traveling? (different from Q5 in that this might be a more personal, physical thing - family, friends, you're used to that style of living.)

I believe I answered this when I said "I like modern conveniences". Other than that, I know that every time period was just as messed up if not more than modern times.

8. What regulations, if any, do you think the government should place on one's abbility time traveling? What kind of "policing" should be done?

Pretty sure I answered this one too. (Some sort of counter-balance that ensures all events happen the same way that they do, even if somebody really tries to mess up time.)

What if the government banned the regular use but transported criminals to different fabrics of time, seeing as the present or future isn't really affected?

1. Where would you travel to?
The future mostly. I'm always thinking what's going to happen, what's out there? My future first to observe my own life and then way beyond that to see all the amazing new inventions.

I'd have to stop off in the Victorian era and a few others as well though.

2. Would you time travel for vacation?

Possibly.

3. Would you ever consider moving, and living the rest of your life out, in a different time period?

In all honesty no. Alright it isn't as black and white as that. If I got some illness that could only be cured in the future or for which a cure could only be sustained in another period then yes. Or if my family moved to another period. Just me though? I don't even like the idea of moving country or being more than a few hours from where my siblings live.

4. Would you be concerned with the safety of time travel, or accept the government's word that it's safe?

I'd let other people test drive it. lol. When I dappled in time travel the first time, I made it so that body parts could be left behind by accident and stuff XD So yeah, I'd certainly be wary.

5. Do you have any moral/philosophical/other reasons why you would disagree with time travel, and humanity's ability to do so?

All fun aside, I'd have some disagreements with it. I'd want it to be heavily controlled and I'd be terrified of people getting themselves killed or trapped in other eras.

6. Would you worry that time traveling could pose some health risk to you or others that the government has yet to discover because it hasn't existed for a long enough time period? (say, 20 years)

I worry in this way about lazer eye surgery. However, with time travel it wouldn't stop me. There would just be too much excitement to be missing out on. I'd be careful though and only go on trips that really meant something to me because there's also the whole growing older than you are thing.

7. What reason might you decide to continue living in the "present" instead of time traveling? (different from Q5 in that this might be a more personal, physical thing - family, friends, you're used to that style of living.)

Like I said, growing older than you are. The more you time travel and return to the time you left from, the older your body is despite you technically not missing any time. That alone would keep me in the present most of the time. And I know my era and it's a pretty good one.

8. What regulations, if any, do you think the government should place on one's abbility time traveling? What kind of "policing" should be done?

I'd want certain time frames to be off limits, maybe always guided tours? Prevention on just generally travelling so people have to go as an arranged group. I don't think I told you much about the one Claire and I started writing but basically, all time travel technology was under government control but guided tours were arranged and quite common. I'd want guides or police to have the means to prevent anyone from being injured or injuring others and to have a full knowledge of the time slot they were visiting.

1. Where would you travel to?
I'm not sure; I'd like to go back to see a Salem Witch Trial, but since I'm a redhead, that wouldn't work too well.

2. Would you time travel for vacation?
Sure, I guess. It would be quite interesting, something besides museums--you could actually go see history happen, and that would be cool.

3. Would you ever consider moving, and living the rest of your life out, in a different time period?
No. I think this time period is the one for me, and though I would love to travel back and forth between times, I would ultimately stay in this time period.

4. Would you be concerned with the safety of time travel, or accept the government's word that it's safe?
I'd probably accept their word that it's safe, but I'd have to hear it from some close friends, too, before I fully trusted the safety of time traveling.

5. Do you have any moral/philosophical/other reasons why you would disagree with time travel, and humanity's ability to do so?
Not really. It seems cool.

6. Would you worry that time traveling could pose some health risk to you or others that the government has yet to discover because it hasn't existed for a long enough time period? (say, 20 years)
Yes, actually, but I could worry about that over anything, really, so why worry over that?

7. What reason might you decide to continue living in the "present" instead of time traveling? (different from Q5 in that this might be a more personal, physical thing - family, friends, you're used to that style of living.)
I am really used to this style of living, and don't think I could easily adapt to another time. Also, my family and friends are just way too close for me to chance losing them.

8. What regulations, if any, do you think the government should place on one's abbility time traveling? What kind of "policing" should be done?
I think regulations should be that if you're going to time travel, you should have a trained time travel professional with you in case something goes wrong. You also need a full health check.

Smile!
-Mizz

Anna! <3

1. Where? You mean when, too? Ok, being a jerk aside - I have a several destinations. First, I'd trace down a few points in history so I can flesh out my family trees. So, in a range, between 1300 and 1560s in England, in varying locations in and around Ipswich and wherever the Stanley's were when there's a generation or so gap in general knowledge. I'll limit my response in this regard to that much - there's lots of points I would go to and ask questions of this sort, if I could. For other purposes, I would, conveniently enough, already be there for the genealogy research, but early middle ages in Europe in general I find fascinating, and thus would like to observe. Observe in a giant bubble in which no one could see me, though. I don't really want to actually have to live in any other time. Though, being friends with Jane Austen would be kind of awesome. And no, I have no desire to know the future. Well, no, that's not true. There are things I'd like to know, but only in generalities. Stuff like, "will I ever be able to fall in love" - but I think that's part of why I write? I don't want to know the future will bring, but I wouldn't mind a little bit of reassurance on a couple of points.

2. Um. No. I mean, the above to me would be fun, but it's also work. Vacation means relaxing. Not worrying about how something/one could kill me if I misstep.

3. Most likely not. Again, I like my modern conveniences, though only to a point. If I could shop in the past, but live in the present, however! But since I doubt that would work or be allowed or anything, no. I'll stick to the here and now.

4. Um. If it's new, odds are no. If it's old in my time (like, more than 100 years, I think), then maybe. I don't entirely trust the government as it is, so adding something so potentially dangerous throws out several red flags for me.

5. I can see the ability being abused, though if we can't actually change events... but, then I wonder how events even happen. If we know about them in advance, if it is our own time, what stops us from changing the event, exactly? Or is it that any interference of any sort somehow does not work? If that's the case, I have fewer issues with it. If not, hell freaking no! Not happening! No one's allowed to do this! I don't trust humanity to manage itself now, heaven forbid anyone gets a hold of any other time! Though you said that couldn't happen... ugh. No, just no.

6. Ha, I'm with Nate. And after a classmate extolled on the negative effects of every single man-made product in the history of time, I've stopped caring. Unless it pulls me to pieces RIGHT NOW, once or twice can't hurt (famous last words, right?). Beyond that, however, I would be more weary on general principle.

7. Hot. Water. Internet - I'm not addicted, I can quite any time! This time has TV I like to inhale in illegal manners, like youtube. No way am I giving that up - unless all said shows become available in legal fashions at prices that aren't insane, like fifty bucks for 6 episodes of a show. That's just unreal. If it was 20 episodes, maybe I'd be more understanding of such a price, but not at 6 episodes. Honestly. But, regardless, this is my time. Though, I can admit to wishing to combing a few time periods to create one I'd like - but then that'd be a utopia in my own image, which could be a problem for the rest of the world.

8. Wait, you mean this wasn't a vast government conspiracy to begin with? Barring that, and the fact it'd be wicked for medieval studies, I don't think it should be used, period. As much fun as it could be, I don't see this being viable, at least not in our world as things stand. Maybe I'm wrong - hell, I hope I'm wrong - and this could be used to create a huge amount of good (ex going back to the beginning of world religions and getting down *exactly* what all leaders really said, and recording their words, but this could also backfire hugely, be called a hoax a la the moon landing, etc.), but as far as I'm concerned, it should be banned. In terms of what you've given here for your novel, however! I can see myself falling either firmly in the BAN IT camp, or being one who runs the entire program - only in part because I want to use this for research, and in part because I don't do things by halves. But, how would this have started? In a government or university program? I can see the origins playing a large part in how time travel is portrayed, here. If government, I think there'd be much more suspicion of it; if university related, I can see it being accessed far more for information-gathering purposes, rather than whatever you'd like to chalk up to the government - money making schemes, twisting history, acting like Big Brother, etc. Yes, at the very least twisting history could be an accusation thrown at a university, so I'm back to asking how anyone can trust those in charge to uphold standards of use. I do not think it should be used recreationally, much as I would love for it to be, however. Anyway! I think I've strayed from your question enough! At the least, there should be strict regulations on who and when can time travel, and why. Research grants on the origins of Christianity as a Jewish cult, great! Pleasure seekers who want to sunbathe in primordial light, not so much.

1. Where would you travel to?

Probably some ancient civilization, but I'm not gonna stick around for long. I love modern technology too much. XD But yeah, that's a different question. That part of history is fascinating to me, mainly because there are a lot of unsolved mysteries or loose hypotheses that I would love to solve for myself. Though I also have a particular desire to read up on Russian history since it always seems to be such a mess, and yet they've lasted this long! But time travelling would always be for research, for lack of a better word, or curiosity.

2. Would you time travel for vacation?

Like I said before, not really? I don't think I could survive without today's toilets. It's a thing I have. If I had to choose one modern technology thing, it will be plumbing, specifically toilets. I don't know how I could ever survive without that kind of luxury.

3. Would you ever consider moving, and living the rest of your life out, in a different time period?

Only if they've got good toilets. (I'm dead serious about the toilets, too. It sounds like I'm joking, but I'm really not. XD)

4. Would you be concerned with the safety of time travel, or accept the government's word that it's safe?

I'd be concerned. Today's government doesn't impress me that much to earn my trust, but even if it did, it's part of my personality. I'm curious as to how time travel works, and I want to know the specifics before getting involved. xD

5. Do you have any moral/philosophical/other reasons why you would disagree with time travel, and humanity's ability to do so?

Well, in time travel like in Lost, there's still going to be small changes, such as different conversations. They're small, but they'll be there. For that reason, I'd say no. I'm one of those people who think everything's happened for a reason, so why the hay would you fuss with it? Improve my toilets instead.

6. Would you worry that time traveling could pose some health risk to you or others that the government has yet to discover because it hasn't existed for a long enough time period? (say, 20 years)

'Course I would, but I worry about everything. That aside, I think I'd still be worry about potential risks, especially with such a theory as time travel. It's used so often in fiction that seeing it in real life is going to take a lot of perfecting and convincing of the public that it's okay. That sounds kinda confusing. XD But a time limit like 20 years? That would never be the reason why I'd be concerned. Scientists will take as long as they need to get it working well without harming those who use it, and as long as they successfully reach that goal, I'm okay with it. But I'd still worry until they've run a sufficient number of experiments to prove that it's [perfectly] functional.

7. What reason might you decide to continue living in the "present" instead of time traveling? (different from Q5 in that this might be a more personal, physical thing - family, friends, you're used to that style of living.)

Well, toilets. But also, I'd miss friends and family here. And also, I'm used to the potential dangers in today's time, and I understand how things work better. Moving to a different time period will throw me completely off, I'd be ill prepared to face anything in said time period, and basically, I couldn't survive as well as I can here at home. Knowledge is power. Universities can teach me everything they know, and I'd still feel uncomfortable with moving to a different time period. No matter how much I learn, I could never understand the lifestyle of a different time period.

8. What regulations, if any, do you think the government should place on one's abbility time traveling? What kind of "policing" should be done?

Well, now we're getting into politics. It depends if time travel is a common activity or not. If Joe the plumber can time travel, then government should lay off. The government has no special business to travel in time anyway. The public should have no means of using it either. The only people who can use it, if anyone, should be historians and the inventors ('course). Heh, as a student, I think it'd be pretty cool to have a field trip to 1787 when they wrote the US Constitution. However, the luxury of time travel shouldn't be allowed at all, and the government is not more powerful than the people of the country; therefore, the government doesn't get special access to something like this.

1. Where would you travel to?

I would time travel to Ancient Greece

2. Would you time travel for vacation?

Nope

3. Would you ever consider moving, and living the rest of your life out, in a different time period?

Yes

4. Would you be concerned with the safety of time travel, or accept the government's word that it's safe?

Yes, I doubt I would take theior word for it, I'd have to try it for myself.

5. Do you have any moral/philosophical/other reasons why you would disagree with time travel, and humanity's ability to do so?

Well, the potential catastrophic results from traveling back in time are beyond measure, so I have some serious fears about uit, but if the right people were to go and able to not effect the timeline, it might be okay.

6. Would you worry that time traveling could pose some health risk to you or others that the government has yet to discover because it hasn't existed for a long enough time period? (say, 20 years)

Yes, who knows what levels of radiation or what kind time travel could produce.

7. What reason might you decide to continue living in the "present" instead of time traveling? (different from Q5 in that this might be a more personal, physical thing - family, friends, you're used to that style of living.)

Well, I would worry about getting sick in a past era and not having the medical attention needed to survive.

8. What regulations, if any, do you think the government should place on one's ability time traveling? What kind of "policing" should be done?

There should be a lot, there needs to be a way to monitor the timeline at all times to ensure it remains stable and doesn't get altered. Time travel would need heavy policing.